Colorado Progressive

Regardless your feelings on the health care bill currently under debate on the House floor, the fact sheet featured on Firedoglake is pretty interesting (be sure to scroll down to the myth/truth table). I suspect dissatisfied liberals and dissatisfied conservatives will each find things to like about it.

I don’t pretend that the current bill is a balm to all health care problems, but on the basic underlying premises, the pending legislation is an epic move in favor of insuring more Americans and providing insured Americans more security and confidence in the services they can expect.

Of course, I’m unapologetically in favor of a single-payer system, and I’d rather see that. But I see no fault, given the reality of checks and balances in our political system, in starting with a bill that’s simply better than the current framework and working through a series of legislative efforts to improve again upon that. I also recognize that certain American tendencies are immutable, among them, potentially, a chronic aversion to single-payer health care. So yeah, I think this bill is a step forward.

Jane Hamsher is also unapologetically in favor of a single-payer system, and she says that this bill is a burden on the American middle class.

A middle class family of four making $66,370 will be forced to pay $5,243 per year for insurance. After basic necessities, this leaves them with $8,307 in discretionary income — out of which they would have to cover clothing, credit card and other debt, child care and education costs, in addition to $5,882 in annual out-of-pocket medical expenses for which families will be responsible.  Many families who are already struggling to get by would be better off saving the $5,243 in insurance costs and paying their medical expenses directly, rather than being forced to by coverage they can’t afford the co-pays on.

Emphasis mine. I think Hamsher raises a fair point. Many families would be better off saving $5,243 in insurance costs annually, if nothing goes wrong. After that, though, I’m not sure that Jane’s assessment holds water. In 2009, for example, the Milliman Medical Index (pdf) found that the average American family of 4 consumed $16,771 in medical care and services. Given these numbers, $5,243 looks like a bitter but efficacious pill to swallow.

At any rate, the Firedoglake facts appear fairly well sourced, though I might use them to draw completely different conclusions. I encourage readers to take a look.